$249,000 in scholarships for Berrien County students have been announced by the Berrien Community Foundation for the coming school year. BCF Program Manager Susan Matheny tells WSJM News there are 62 scholarships this year.
“Throughout the past year, we had ten new scholarship programs created,” Matheny said. “Some scholarships give out more than one so more than one student gets a scholarship. So it’s a little more than last year.”
Berrien Community Foundation Scholarships range from $1,000 to $13,000. There is a wide variety of them.
“Scholarships are created by individuals, families, corporations, and they’re done for personal reasons a lot of times. Many times, it’s someone wanting to commemorate a family member who has passed, or you’ll have someone wanting to reward beneficial behavior.”
Matheny says someone might want to encourage a student pursing a particular career, or reward a student for volunteering. She notes a $25,000 investment can result in a $1,000 per year scholarship forever, as the BCF only uses the interest from scholarship endowments year to year. The BCF normally holds a celebration for scholarship recipients, but due to COVID-19, that couldn’t happen this year.
Amid the over 300 scholarship applications reviewed and awarded, there were applications for ten new scholarships added this year to the BCF scholarships list. They are:
Arcadia Gardens Scholarship,
Sondra J. Kaminski Soccer Scholarship,
Lehmann-Peapples Trades Scholarship,
Howard D. Merchant Memorial Scholarship,
Michigan Grape Society Scholarship,
Passaro Family Volunteer Scholarship,
Pasquale Santaniello Family Scholarship,
St. Joseph Class of 1970 Scholarship,
Ken & Jeanne Thomas Memorial Scholarship,
Alton & Millie Wendzel Scholarship.
The 2020 Berrien Community Foundation Scholars are:
All God’s Children Community Choir Scholarship: Lucille Arbanas (Buchanan), Ethan Bowman-Hawkins (St. Joseph), and Eva Schley (Edwardsburg);
Arcadia Gradens Scholarship: Noemi Mendez (St. Joseph);
Edna Bender Scholarship: Jacob Herman (Berrien Springs);
Bryce Boothby Family Scholarship: Daniel Moore (Benton Harbor);
Jeffrey Evan Demko Scholarship: Jackson Schmaltz (Bridgman);
Drews Family Scholar: Chiara Thrum (Lakeshore);
Dunn Scholarship: Zaida Castillo (Siena Heights University) and Vanessa Martinez (Lake Michigan College);
Felland Scholarship: Ingrid dos Reis Faria (Lake Michigan College) and Althea Rapaich (Lake Michigan College);
Jameson Matthew Gargano Memorial Scholarship: Alena Louie (Lakeshore);
Heart of Cook Scholarship: Skylar Brawley (Niles), Michael Kaufmann (Niles), Brighton Lee (Buchanan), Claire Lundy (St. Joseph), Chloe Russell (St. Joseph), Allison Schmidt (River Valley);
David A. Hicks Scholarship for the Arts: Alice Askren (Coloma);
John E.N. & Dede Howard Instrumental Music Scholarship: Jared Jaggi (Western Michigan University);
Insurance Management Service Scholarship: Eric Johnson (Benton Harbor);
Lehmann-Peapples Trades Scholarship: Ross Clare (Michigan Lutheran) and Elena Loucks (Berrien);
Jon Jollay Memorial Scholarship:? Cameron Needham (Coloma);
Sondra J. Kaminski Scholarship: John Mansfield (Lake Michigan Catholic); Sondra J.
Kaminski Soccer Scholarship: Lindsey Adent (St. Joseph);
Leonard & Marion Krall Scholarship: Susanna Van Lente (Watervliet); Howard D. Merchant Scholarship: Zachary Kreiner (St. Joseph);
Michigan Grape Society Scholarship: Daniel Berghoff (Lake Michigan College); Lora Wile Miller Scholarship: Lillian Hoose (Lakeshore);
Ronald H. Miller Journalism Scholarship: Dominic Giandiletti (St. Joseph);
Terence Joseph Mulvihill Scholarship: Jacob Fidler (New Buffalo), Grace Gradowski (New Buffalo);
Carol A. Oehlhaffen Lake Michigan Catholic Scholar: John Mansfield (Lake Michigan Catholic) and Bailey Siglow (Lake Michigan Catholic);
Carol A. Oehlhaffen Youth in Philanthropy Scholarship: Lindsey Schaffer (St. Joseph);
F.A. Mason Penwell Nursing: Ingrid dos Reis Faria (Lake Michigan College) and Hailey Smith (Lake Michigan College);
Cora B. Parkhurst Memorial Scholarship: Vanessa Rojo-Merida (Berrien Springs);
Pasquale Santinello Family Scholarship: Alena Louie (Lakeshore);
Passaro Family Volunteerism Scholarship: Diego Avello (Lakeshore);
Southwest Michigan Human Trafficking Task Force Awareness Scholarship: Margaret Harris (Southwest Michigan College);
Stoub Family Scholarship for Working Students: Katarra Roberts (Eau Claire);
St. Joseph Class of 1970 Scholarship: Tekeira Roberts (Benton Harbor);
Ken & Jeanne Thomas Memorial Scholarship: Hannah Pittman (Berrien Springs);
Trefz Family Scholarship: George Kertawidjaja (Berrien Springs), Victoria DesLauries (River Valley) and Alexis Stump (Niles),
Frederick S. Upton Opportunity Scholarship: Victoria DesLauries (River Valley), Noah Hayden (Lake Michigan College), Jacob Herman (Berrien Springs), Caroline Madison (Home School), Jonathan Miesse (St. Joseph), Sydney Prillwitz (Niles), Emma Springer (River Valley), Erin Thomas (Niles), and Gary Washington (Benton Harbor);
Arthur & Bonna Vanderlyn Scholarship: Joel Soto (Hartford);
Rodney Weir Scholarship for Coloma Marching Band: Alice Askren (Coloma);
Welch Family Scholarship: Daiden Shaw (Countryside);
Alton & Millie Wendzel Scholarship: Allison Eisen (Watervliet)
